We're All Fish Food Now
by Renzin
Summary: The Akatsuki planned to change the world. They planned to induce such catastrophic destruction onto the world that it would never be able to stomach violence again, and thus peace world reign. Their plan was to take place at a later date, however now the world faces an apocalyptic fate - and for once, it's not their fault. Full summary inside. Zombie/modern AU
1. A Pair Of Colourless Eyes

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, only this storyline, my OCs and my artwork.**

 _ **Summary: The Akatsuki planned to change the world. They planned to induce such catastrophic** **destruction onto the world that it would never be able to stomach violence again, and thus peace world reign. Their plan was to take place at a later date, however now the world faces an apocalyptic fate - and for once, it's not their fault.**_

 _ **Sakura, Ino and Hinata are fighting for their lives. They're scared and alone in a new world where walking out the front door is as much of a death sentence as locking yourself in. The government is nonexistent, families are torn apart and lives can be lost over the last can of food. But amidst the brain dead cannibals, rotting morals and chaos, the dawn is coming - and it's dressed in leather.**_

 **Zombie AU, modern AU. Rating T - M. A bit of horror, touch of drama and a dash of devilish romance.**

Chapter 1

 **Sakura**

No sooner had Sakura crossed the threshold between the changing rooms and the open corridor, her pager beeped with a nasal whine, informing her that her presence was needed in A & E. Considering the fairly tense atmosphere of the hospital for the past few weeks, it wasn't unexpected that her first reaction was to crinkle her nose apprehensively.

The majority of doctors and nurses avoided A & E shifts like the plague, especially the oh so dreaded nighttime shifts, but ever since this new virus came along, everybody had been on edge.

Bizarrely enough, even Sakura and her co workers didn't know what it was; to them it was classified with a numerical name and if anybody with the symptoms showed up they were to be immediately taken to CDC labs under the strictest quarantine regulations. Heightened emotions, increased activity in the sweat glands, high fevers, headaches, loss of mobility and vomiting, whatever it was, Sakura thought that it sounded like a relative to the rabies virus or something; it was certainly resulting in more back to back shifts than the ebola outbreak ever did.

The doctors that had come into contact with these patients were also screened and checked over, though despite the unusually high security, the worst that had happened was a couple of the patients falling into rather sudden comas, or losing coherency.

Yet again, Sakura was especially glad that she didn't decide to become a virologist. This sounded like a pretty big season for them and all.

As she quickly spritzed her hands with the antibacterial foam that was available next to every door in the building, she used the time it took her to rub it in to survey the A & E's waiting area. Luckily, no wheezing, aggressive or vomiting people seemed to be present, and other than a young girl in obvious need of stitches and several groups of people surrounding friends that clutched various bleeding limbs, it was fairly quiet.

"BITCH WHERE THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING, I'M BLEEDING OUT OVER HERE!"

 **Whoops, spoke too soon.**

Sakura channeled as much energy as she could into prevented herself from face palming, or walking straight out of the room and pretending that her pager was broken. Instead however, she walking towards the nurse behind the desk, who pointed down the familiar doorway behind her. "Sakura, Shizune's with a patient at bed three."

The pinkette managed a twitching smile. "Thanks. It's not the squealer, is it?"

"Sorry darling, hard luck."

Sakura sighed and trudged around the desk to pass into the A & E wards. She really needed more coffee in her system to deal with this. And perhaps a shower - back to back shifts did nothing for your pores.

As she walked towards the ever increasing string of curses that marked her destination, she passed beds of patients being attended to, the most concerning being a hyperventilating asthmatic. The thin thread of strawberry scented hair that had been tickling her forehead for the past hour had just been joined by another, so she hastily added a spare hair pin to her french braided bun (Hey, she had _natural_ pink hair, what was the big deal about giving in a using strawberry shampoo as well).

She arrived at the bed labelled no 3, her eyes bulging at the sight that met her on the other side of the blue paper curtain as Sakura was faced with three of the scariest looking men that she had ever seen.

They were all clad in various layers of dirty leather and worn in denim, two standing and the one on the bed. There was the overwhelming scent of gasoline, cigarettes and something utterly _masculine_ that seemed to take over the cubicle. Combined with the three unfamiliar men all suddenly snapping their eyes to her, Sakura was fighting the urge to make a break for the door.

The first was leaning against the white bar at the end of the bed, his large grip engulfing the pathetic metal. He was clad in black jeans with an oily sheen to it and a grey shirt tucked into a large buckle of an anatomically drawn heart. A large biker's jacket was slightly zipped at the bottom, the leather creased and mottled with green tones rather than fully black. There was also a grey bandana that had been woven around the lower part of the man's face and tucked into his jacket, so that the only dark russet skin she could see were of his hands and the parts of his face that weren't covered by the shaggy black mane. There were several tattoos wrapped around the wrists and fingers, a mockery of stitches that made his presence here rather ironic. Mossy green eyes that were far more calculating than hers were surrounded by angry red veins, leading Sakura to the conclusion that he was most likely on drugs. Judging from his size, possibly steroids.

The second man was directly in front of her. If possible, he was even taller than the first at around 6'4", and was leaning against the wall on the other side of the bed with his arms crossed over muscles worthy of WWE. Again, clad in standard men's jeans and a white T shirt, his torso was wrapped in a straining black leather jacket, with a navy stripe down each arm and shoulder.

But the thing that made Sakura's brain swirl in confusion was the fact that this guy's skin was _blue._ At first she vaguely remembered reading about a rare disorder called methemogobinemia; if there wasn't a third guy on the bed, she would have thought that she was supposed to diagnose _him._ But then considered that maybe it was some sort of patternless tattoo, as if the artist had just chosen a shade and coloured him in.

His brow was heavy and framed by a harsh, angular face sporting a style of dark navy hair. It was buzzed short at the sides and stuck up like a fin. As he looked down at Sakura with sharp grey eyes, she had a notion that he was the reason that there was so much road kill on the highway.

 **My. Freaking. God.**

Somehow Sakura managed to breathlessly sigh a mental agreement with Inner while her physical breath was lodged in her throat.

Behind the first biker stood a dwarfed Shizune, who looked up from filling in her clipboard with a tired and rather relieved smile. "Dr Haruno! There you are. Sorry to cut into your break, but we're a bit low on hands back here." Shizune was her mentor at the hospital, as well as the supervisor for all the junior doctors. She herself was the apprentice of the legendary Dr Tsunade Senju, who was also the Chief of Medicine, and the idol of practically every med student to make it through college.

"Not a problem. What d-" Sakura started to reply before being interrupted by the same loud voice as before.

"You're kidding me right? The pink bitch is my _doctor?!_ " Her jaw dropped at the same moment Shizune gasped, both women staring in outrage at their patient.

 **...Oh you have _got_ to be-LET ME AT HIM! **

_I can't do that! I need to handle this professionally!_

 **Professionally _proshmeshonally,_ this asshole just insulted our roots, literally!**

The final biker was lean and smaller than the other two, but by far her least favourite. His hair was slicked back and silver, the translucent colour practically glowing under the florescent lighting and fading into creamy _normal_ looking skin. His own jacket was messily sprawled on the back of an empty chair next to the bed. Despite her impeccably masked scowl, Sakura could admit that he was rather handsome as well, ignoring the expression on his face; it was the sort of face that was always smirking or scowling, and in his mockery of her now it was a sort of mix between. The man's arms were bare because of the white wife beater he wore over muddy jeans, and a rosary hung in between his pectorals. His hands were propped upon a sliding table that rested above his lap and revealed the reason he was here. They were covered in bloody shards of glass, the organic liquid quickly being soaked into the paper covering underneath.

Shizune was the first to recover, her experience in years of dealing with difficult patients taking over. "Mr Tanaka, please treat my staff with respect. I can assure you that Dr Haruno is completely competent."

The Tanaka man snorted harshly, apparently ignorant of the pain his hands must be causing him (unless he was already doped up before he came). "Don't fuck with me woman. There's no way that she'd get away with pink drapes at work, you know - fucking hell, Kakuza!" He roared, his face having taken the brunt of the slap from the standing man with the covered face.

"Mind your goddamn mouth Hidan, and sit still for them."

"But-"

The newly appointed Kakuzu snarled, his eyes wrinkling with irritation. "I don't want to hear it. You keep your mouth shut or I'll _sow_ it shut, you got that?"

Hidan was not submissive to that order, as he continued to hurl alarmingly detailed threats at his companion, Sakura managed to snap out of her horrified trance and get Shizune's attention again. After receiving a silent 'proceed', she collected the equipment she needed from the cart of sterilised utensils, and after putting on her gloves with a slap that she secretly enjoyed doing, Sakura silently set her equipment down on another portable work surface on wheels and pulled up the empty chair to sit in it. She didn't need to do anything else to gain the men's attention.

"What the fuck do you think you're-"

She curtly butted in, allowing a sliver of Inner to take over. "Sir, I am a qualified doctor with the standard amount of years as anybody else in my position. While you have to right to deject treatment from me, it would be simpler for everybody if you could just give me your hand, ok?"

There was a moment of silence; Sakura's eyes were starting to tear from maintaining level eye contact with Hidan's glare until he snarled. "Fuck that shit. You really th-"

"Hidan, just shut up and let her get on with it." The towering blue biker spoke for the first time, and Sakura was not surprised to hear the gravelly rough edges to his deep voice. He still hadn't moved from her position against the wall, arms still crossed as if he had turned to stone.

He was also staring right back at Sakura. It made her feel as if she had just been dunked in a shower of ice water, while her face and neck began to feel uncomfortably warm.

And then the pager in Shizune's pocket went off, and after she had given it a glance and cleared her throat, she passed the clip board to Kakuzu with a polite smile. "Excuse me, I'm needed elsewhere. If you could fill in Mr Tanaka's medical insurance info here. Dr Haruno, you got this?"

 **What!? FUCK NO! Don't leave us with the crazy ass bikers!**

"I've got it covered."

"Good stuff."

And with that Shizune had disappeared out of the A & E ward, leaving Sakura alone with three rather scary and dangerous criminals (most likely). The three bikers looked down at her (even Hidan who was _lower_ on the bed than her) and stared, like three hungry wolves watching the poor little bunny hopping into their midst.

 **Hey, hold up on the sissy bunny shit. _You're_ the doc around here. This is your home turf, so bandage that motherfucker! **

Sakura vaguely wondered why Inner sounded so much like Ino at the moment. Regardless, she did in fact put on her most professional mask and said calmly. "I'm going to have to take this out now; you'll need to be still, ok?"

The silver hot head curved his upper lip a little, but complied after the other two threw him dark glares. He rejected any form of painkillers, causing eye rolls from both his companions (what was that about?), and spent his time bickering with Kakuzu while she removed the glass, disinfected the cuts and sutured several rather deep wounds. Occasionally the man who was yet to have a name spoke up, usually to join Kakuzu in telling Hidan how much of an idiot he was. Every time he did Sakura had to constantly stop herself from making him the focus of her vision. She was half certain that she had seen a glimpse of _serrated_ teeth. How long had that taken to file down?

She finally finished bandaging the second hand, and began clearing away the mess as she talked. "All done. The stitches will need to be replaced in two weeks, so you'll have to make an appointment with the nurse at the desk." Hidan huffed something under his breath that she didn't particularly care to hear, so she absorbed herself in thoroughly checking over the form the Kakuzu had filled out for Hidan. It said something about them that the darker man was able to fill out all the details of his friend without having to ask. That or this was going to turn into some insurance fraud that she definitely did not need on her plate right now. Or _ever._

 _"_ Is that all you need?" Kakuzu asked, in a much politer tone than that of his friend.

Sakura plastered on her best 'kindhearted doctor' smile. "Yep. You're free to go, be careful with the hands, alright?"

Hidan sent her one last glare. "Whatever bitch." He was followed out by Kakuzu, who sent a vaguely apologetic look (it was hard to tell with the crazed veiny eyes and bandana covered face), and finally the last unnamed giant. He followed his companions with the same loud clunking all their boots gave off, but at the last second turned and grunted "G'night." He flipped his colourless gaze over her once more, and then he too was gone.

A heavy breath puffed through her lips.

 **Holy fuck, we need a break.**

 _I wholeheartedly agree._

* * *

 **Hey! Thank you for reading this, I'm going to get the obligatory 'please review' rant done now, so blah blah blah review favourite follow blah blah blah done.**

 **This has been an idea roaming** **through my head for a while, especially since I haven't seen many Akatsuki or Naruto zombie pics around (I'm sure they exist though). The style I'm going for is not especially fluffy and happy; its going to be quite influenced by the Walking Dead, so quite dark, rather gory and a bit of a saga to be honest.**

 **I feel like it's a bit obvious already, but basically, its KisameXSakura, but a slow burn that focuses more on the characters journeys in the apocalypse.**

 **Oh, and since its AU and modern, there's ninja shit (as much as I love a bit of jutsu).**

 **Predominantly, this story is going to follow Sakura, Hinata and Ino. They're kind of a pack, and the first few chapters will be set the stage and such pre major outbreak.**

 **Anyway, hope that you guys enjoyed this!**

 **Love,**

 **Renzin xo.**


	2. When Danger Comes Knocking

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, only this storyline, my OCs and my artwork.**

 _ **Summary: The Akatsuki planned to change the world. They planned to induce such catastrophic** **destruction onto the world that it would never be able to stomach violence again, and thus peace world reign. Their plan was to take place at a later date, however now the world faces an apocalyptic fate - and for once, it's not their fault.**_

 _ **Sakura, Ino and Hinata are fighting for their lives. They're scared and alone in a new world where walking out the front door is as much of a death sentence as locking yourself in. The government is nonexistent, families are torn apart and lives can be lost over the last can of food. But amidst the brain dead cannibals, rotting morals and chaos, the dawn is coming - and it's dressed in leather.**_

Chapter 2

 **Hinata**

It was raining like there was a crack in the heavens today. It assaulted the tiles of the building, tinkering down the wall of glass in winding rivers, as bullets of water crashed loudly against the tarmac outside. The perfect white noise, Hinata mused as she sat behind the counter of the gas station. She was leaning against the table top in between the cash register and a display of gums, one hand fingering the pages of her book while the other was woven into her hair as it held her head up. Her attention had drifted from her reading to contently watching the weather.

She loved the rain. Even as a child Hinata would try to stay up for as long as possible in bed to listen to thunder storms. Most of the time she was sniffing from one cold or the other, but that never stopped her from willingly walking in the rain. As of consequence, she had had to invest in an over sized green rain coat with a giant fluffy hood that fell to her thighs, and even in the summer was in the habit of carrying it around.

Hinata's poudretteite eyes were growing tired despite the fact she still had several hours to go before her shift ended at 9pm. Even now her manager was in the back, though she didn't fault him for sleeping now as he would be the one to take the night shift later. The idea of being alone when anybody could come in at that time quite frankly terrified her.

She could admit that her even working in a place like this was rather bizarre in the first place; if her family wasn't in Japan, she would have never been allowed to work somewhere so low class, but as things were Hinata had been living this side of the Pacific ever since starting college. Even her cousin and little sister hadn't seen her for several months - though travel costs weren't an issue, it was always hard to find time between work and school assignments to visit them.

A grateful smile drifted over Hinata's face. As much as she loved her family, moving had been the best thing she had ever done. Gone were the strict clan events and stern older father; now her days were filled with Sakura and Ino. The three of them had met the previous summer before college when coincidently they had all been visiting the area before applying.

Despite Hinata's shy nature and her family's overprotective monitoring, she had kept in touch with the two girls, and when they had all chosen the same college to attend, well; it was inevitable that they would rent out a house together in their second year. They were still living together now even as Sakura and Ino had joined the working world, while Hinata herself was completing her Masters.

Sakura and Ino were probably the best part about living abroad. They were her best friends, and ever since meeting them she had begun to grow more confident. Her stutter had diminished to only when she was embarrassed or emotional. Because of her boisterous roommates, Hinata had been _clubbing_ (and actually quite enjoyed it in the classier locations), been talked into attending dates and ended up with a _boyfriend_ (Neji nii san would burst something if he found out!), and even if her time with Naruto was over, he was still a wonderful friend, and she was certainly a woman now.

Inspired, Hinata had made a resolution to put herself in positions that she was unused to (within reason of course), so though her family would be in uproar at their offspring _working_ even though her bills were already covered, she had taken two part time jobs. One was at a coffee shop close to their home which only required a few hours on the weekend, and her 5 - 9pm shift at the gas station on the edge of the town. The latter had been going on for a month now, while her time at the coffee shop was closer to 2 years. Even though she didn't need to, Hinata liked experiencing hard work, and there was something about _earning_ your first pay check that stopped her from reconsidering.

The shaky knock kneed 18 year old who had arrived on campus all those years ago was just a nostalgic memory that lived in photographs now.

Lord knows what her father would say if he realised that she had just recently dyed subtle stripes of navy blue to her hair!

Hinata was brought out of her reminiscing by the flat jingle of the door opening. She raised her head up from her fingers, the long locks falling against her cheeks, but when she lifted her eyes, the air in her throat halted abruptly. Her brain experienced a rush of ice like someone had run their nails down her scalp, while the blood in her ears grew uncomfortably hot.

There was a man that may or may not be here to rob her in the store. He hadn't even looked at her yet and Hinata was already tensing to hide under the counter.

A shaggy mess of inky hair was wet from the rain. Deeply tanned skin, covered in tattoos of stitches that resembled barbed wire, were littered with pale pink scars. A grey shirt was rolled up to reveal thick forearms and straining to encase a wide set of arms and shoulders, while also being tucked into a rather odd belt buckle and jeans with loud biker boots. The man was currently shaking out the moisture from his leather jacket, and despite the bandana that was tired around his mouth, Hinata could see low brows furrowed with irritation as he muttered lowly.

The man didn't even look at her once her was done. He tugged his jacket back on and browsed through the unfamiliar isles with his back to her. Hinata felt her hands begin to shake. She considered discreetly calling her manager to deal with this customer, before admonishing herself. _You're not a weak little girl anymore. He's just a customer, be professional and it'll soon all be over._

Hinata hurriedly assumed her previous pose before Tall, Dark and Possibly Armed had entered, letting her dark hair curtain her in. Her fingers played with the pages of her book once more. Her eyes flickered up through the flicks of her bangs, until she forced herself to finish the paragraph she was on.

Something fell against the metal counter with a loud slap, jolting Hinata's body and attention upwards. Her wide eyes locked onto the strangers and once again her mind became a mess. A pair of dark green orbs surrounded by hellish red veins glared down at her, and for a moment she just stared right back. The aggravated noise at the back of his throat snapped her out of it.

"A pack of Marlboro Reds as well." With a voice like that, it was expected that he was a smoker.

Hinata squeaked, "S-sorry! Let m-me get that f-for you." _Great, so much for 'no more stuttering'._

"Of course." There was a mocking quality to his voice that reminded her of her cousin when he picked on when she was younger. She couldn't imagine Neji's face if he saw the company that she was in.

She quickly spun around and opened the glass case of numerous cigarette brands, putting them next to the biker's other purchases; an issue of The Economist (she hadn't expected that) and some extremely strong mint gum. As Hinata hastily ran the items under the scanner (her body tense and ready for him to pull a gun out of somewhere), she noticed with surprise that the man was looking down at her book, his head tilted sideways to read it. To her mortification, he raised a hand to flip back the front cover of the textbook. The words _Industrial_ _Organisation-Markets and Strategies_ were printed in a clinically loud font.

Hinata's hand froze, still hovering over the plastic bag. Her eyes slowly travelled up the length of the stranger's arm until they met his again. She flinched and flushed red, unsure why she should feel embarrassed. Hinata swore one dark eye brow had twitched inquisitively, and there was an odd look in his demonic eyes as he surveyed her.

It was a very awkward silence. Hinata threw her gaze down again, stuffed the last item in the bag and pushed it to his side of the counter. She tapped away at the cash machine, made a mistake, and started again. "That'll be-"

"Wait a second, I've got a coupon for the magazine." The man pulled out a thick bulging wallet that made Hinata's eyes widen even more, and produced a perfectly folded 50% off voucher - she didn't even know that there _was_ one available for magazines. "S-sure."

Obediently Hinata typed in the coupon's code (half surprised that it was valid) and told him the new price. There was a grunt, and then a $10 bill was handed over. She counted the change. He recounted the change after she had handed it back to him, picked up his items and spun around to leave the store.

With his back to her, Hinata made note of the badges on the back. In the centre was a large red cloud, and the bold worlds AKATSUKI circling it. There were a few she could make out, but most prominent was one with a skull chewing on a bleeding heart at one shoulder blade, and on the other a reformed version of what she knew from Sakura was the Rod of Asclepius. The snake however was wrapped around what she just managed to make out as a needle with a hooked in thread and a gold coin in the fangs of the reptile. _Extremely weird._

On impulse Hinata called out, "H-have a good evening!" She felt as if the air had frozen. _Fool!_

The biker himself paused mid step. Slowly, he turned and pinned her with a look that seemed to convey his surprise, how stupid he thought she was, a bunch of things she couldn't decipher, and an anger that seemed to be directed at the world in general.

For a moment, Hinata was slowly moving her fingers to the bat kept under the counter. Then the man grunted and made his way back out into the rain.

"Oh my god!" Hinata gasped, gripping the counters edge. She fell back into her seat in a very unladylike manner. Her eyes flew up to the glass. He was still here, sitting on a large black bike with handle bars around shoulder height. There was a glow against his gloved hands as he lit a cigarette under the cover of the gas pumps' roof, and exhaled a large gust of smoke like a snorting bull. She watched him, mesmerised. The biceps of the arm holding his cigarette clenched widely as he raised it again. Her throat felt dry. For some reason she was disappointed that he hadn't lowered the bandana enough for her curiosity.

Suddenly Hinata threw her head back to her book when those green eyes found hers. She knew her face was becoming a beetroot shade, and soon couldn't help but tuck some hair back to try and cool herself down. She refused to look up again until she heard the predatory roar of the motorbike come alive and then fade away.

* * *

 **Whoop! People are enjoying this (that's a relief!)**

 **So this chapter was basically an introduction to Hinata's point of view - she was so fun to write, so cute and all! Three guesses as to which biker she met. In terms of chronology, this happens within the same few days as the previous chapter, though of course Hinata doesn't know about Sakura's experience. Ino's chappie is next!**

 **Ahh, Kakuzu is so fun to write; I've been wanting to write about his _obsessions_ for a while now. **

**Thank you to Yami-no-kijo, the guest, Shineonme and Bananadrama for your reviews!**

 **Love,**

 **Renzin xo.**


	3. Red Leather And Rosaries

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, only this storyline, my OCs and my artwork.**

 _ **Summary: The Akatsuki planned to change the world. They planned to induce such catastrophic** **destruction onto the world that it would never be able to stomach violence again, and thus peace world reign. Their plan was to take place at a later date, however now the world faces an apocalyptic fate - and for once, it's not their fault.**_

 _ **Sakura, Ino and Hinata are fighting for their lives. They're scared and alone in a new world where walking out the front door is as much of a death sentence as locking yourself in. The government is nonexistent, families are torn apart and lives can be lost over the last can of food. But amidst the brain dead cannibals, rotting morals and chaos, the dawn is coming - and it's dressed in leather.**_

Chapter 3

 **Ino**

"Get the _fuck_ out of the way!" She screamed, pounding the car horn so violently her car seat shook with her. There was a distant reply of outrage as the black Maserati swung around into the neighbouring lane and back into the previous to over take several cars before it could collide with the ongoing traffic.

Into swore viciously as the radio finished her favourite new song to begin the techno beats of some repetitive drivel that would surely worsen her headache. She attempted to punch in the code for another radio station, getting it wrong twice due to her sharp blue nails, while all the while serving through traffic like she had robbed a bank.

There was a shuddering bump in the road as she slid out of the main highway and over a zebra crossing, an agonised yell following her, but at the moment Ino couldn't even pretend to care. There were far worst matters at hand.

The techno beat was worse than an electric drill. Ino rifled through the compartment next to her and promptly stuck her nail file into the screen of her radio. It flickered mournfully, but silently.

Once she had circled a few blocks after hearing the wailing of sirens (just as a precaution of course), Ino finally slowed down to a respectable suburbs speed. She shrieked to a stop in front of a tall cream hotel with regal pearl and gold details, the proud internationally acclaimed hotel's identity above the door in rouge italics. Ino slipped out of the car once the bellboy had opened her door, and after threatening the existence of his future children he scratched her car, strutted into the building like a thunder storm.

"Shikamaru, I want to have sex." Ino announced after almost immediately spotting him waiting for her by reception.

His half lidded gaze took its time to reach her own slightly manic eyes, noting her tight calf length olive dress, nude stilettos and matching bag, along with a sculpted hair style that revealed her long neck. With a sigh, he replied "Then marry me."

"For fuck's sake!" Ino threw her hands in the air. "You know I'm not going to say yes!"

"Well then we're at a bit of a stand off, aren't we?"

Ino scowled. "I _can't_ marry you."

Shikamaru looked affronted (if only silently). "Why not?"

"Because...I don't want to!"

"Don't be childish, Ino chan."

"Argh!" She pointed her finger accusing at his chest, pinning the crisp shirt down. "I just want to have sex with you Shikamaru. We've been happy for years like this, why do you have to try and _complicate_ things?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "My mother wants me to settle down. She says that I have a responsibility to give her grandchildren."

" _Children?!_ Do you think this dress stretches for _pregnancy!?"_ A passing porter narrowly missed Ino's arms as she gesticulated. "Listen Shikamaru, I consider you a dear friend; you have great taste in casinos, and you know all of my favourite restaurants, but there is _nobody_ on this planet who can make me walk down the aisle. Not even you!"

"Nothing will have to change, Ino. We can always adopt or something." He reasoned with his usual calm armour. "And you would look lovely in white." His favourite set of lingerie she owned was white.

Ino closed her eyes and pinched her bow. _"Please,_ just stop pushing this disastrous idea. Surely having a wife would be too much for a lazy bastard like you?"

"That's true; but you see, it's my mother. It would be far more troublesome to resist her any longer, especially since most of my original clients come from her connections. So you see, Ino, its better if we play along, at least for now."

Something cold settled in Ino. Of course, she had no intentions of settling down. She was young, a successful stock broker and liked to have a regular shag to keep things interesting. She lived with her girlfriends in the cutest house in the suburbs, away from the roaring city she was employed in. Why would she trade that all for a joint account, screaming brats and a lifestyle that would surely replace her Prada with Walmart.

Ino had known Shikamaru almost since birth. Their fathers were as close as brothers, and so once they had grown up (Ino becoming more assertive and curious while Shikamaru grew into a rather handsome form) it was natural for them to experiment. It had never been serious, always temporarily halting if one started an actual relationship, and most of the time they did the things all friends did when they hung out.

There was nothing in this world that Ino thought would make her want to change, but there was something about the clinical purpose behind the Nara's reasoning that cut deep.

She shook her head. "That's it. I'm leaving. Don't call me until you've got all this bullshit out of your system Shikamaru."

"Ino..." He said with a thin sliver of regret. She ignored him, exiting the hotel in a haste that had the bell boy frantically dashing to retrieve her car.

Ino sniffed a little and squeezed her eyes shut as she waited outside. "Don't you _dare_ cry..." The pressure on her elevated toes began to irritate her, making her desire the flats she used for driving even more. "God damnit, how shitty is this service!"

"Hey baby, you need to be getting somewhere?" A masculine voice cajoled.

The blonde swiftly turned to find the embodiment of James Dean leaning against a sleek motorcycle parked halfway off the pavement. He was ridiculously good looking, an albino by the looks of it, with pale eyes and slicked back hair framing high cheekbones and a slightly crazed smirk. Dressed in _tight_ jeans, a deep burgundy leather jacket with several sown in patches and a long rosary that hung like an ironic banner down his neck. One of the hotel porters was trying to talk him into moving away from the hotel and was turning exponentially red as he was ignored.

Half of Ino was judging the clique badboy stereotype, the other was checking him out as plainly as he was her. She lifted her chin a little, feigning disinterest. "No where that concerns you."

The man grinned, unstraddling his bike to swagger over to her and leaving the spluttering porter behind. "Ouch, you're ruthless. My name's Hidan."

"Oh, that's nice." He smelt _very_ nice, and Ino was having a hard time maintaining her lofty attitude.

"And yours..."

The porter finally managed to gain attention. "Sir, I ask that you not disturb our guest!"

The charming smirk turned into a frightening scowl like a flip of a switch. Hidan glared dangerously down at him, spitting. "Oi, can't you shut that prissy little mouth? Or is it only capable of gaping like your asscrack? Go piss off!"

Ino stared mouth open at the man. Great, the first guy who flirts with her, and he's most definitely bipolar. At that moment her car arrived, and she practically tackled the bell boy for her keys.

"Hey, where the fuck are you going?" A hand suddenly slammed the door shut behind her. Ino twisted around to find herself trapped against her automobile, with Hidan blocking her vision. "Common, what's your name, princess?"

"Ino!" Said blonde both cursed and praised Shikamaru's timing. He quickly pushed Hidan away from her with an angry aura. "Who is this guy?"

"As if _I_ have a clue!" She hissed back, trying to mash her key into the lock.

Hidan had turned a furious red, hands in fists. "Bastard! What the fuck are you pulling?"

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You ought to leave now before I call the police for harassing my fiancé."

Ino gaped at him. " _Fiancé?!"_

Hidan's eyebrows shot up incredulously, but he persisted. "You're a pretty shitty boyfriend you know, if I offered the chick a lift before _you_ could."

"You don't know who you're dealing with. Back. _Off."_

"Oh really? I will fuck you up _so badly-"_

A mechanical shriek alerted the two males, giving them just enough warning before the Maserati shot off and left them in the dust. Both of them stubbled backwards, and as Ino fled after narrowly missing the parked motorbike, she heard the cry of "Crazy bitch!" bid her goodbye.

Several traffic lights later, she actually stopped at the red light, though only as a reprieve to lower her head against the steering wheel. She took deep breaths and cursed extensively until all the adrenaline had drained from her, leaving her very tired. She resolved to have an early night with Hinata and Sakura, and avoid her phone for a few days.

The journey from her offices in the city to the suburbs of the town their house was in was perhaps an hours drive in the early mornings, but in the afternoon turned into a dull 2 and a half hour journey. When Ino finally passed the first town of several till her own, dusk was settling in. She was driving along a spacious but deserted forest road when a sudden figure lumbered in line with her headlambs. Her brain only registered it at the last moment, and with a gasp of horror Ino slammed on the brakes.

She hit the figure at 40 mph almost straight on, enough for it to roll over the hood of her car. When she had stopped and hastily reversed back, fear and guilt started to set in. Hopefully it was just bambi. But if it was _human,_ then getting married was the least of her troubles.

Ino screwed her eyes shut before getting out of her car, leaving the headlamps on. Feeling very stupid, she called "Hello? Are you alright?"

She hesitantly moved towards the figure until its arm started to bend. She sighed in relief, then clamped her hand over her mouth as the figure suddenly lurched up and began to crawl towards her, leaving its mangled legs behind. A gaunt, decomposing face stared at her with diseased eyes as it moaned hungrily. The smell was putrid.

Ino stood watching in disbelief. It was only when a brittle, wet hand grazed her toe and its jaw started to stretch open with a lolling tongue that she screamed and instinctively stamped on its hand like a cockroach, stumbling out of range.

Even if she relived this moment, Ino knew that she would have repeated her actions.

She ran back to her car, fired the engine and reversed on that fucker. Moments later, the now motionless corpse was left in the dark once more.

* * *

 **So now all three of the girls are introduced, and we get some zombie action,** **woop!**

 **Thank you guys for your patience, as this update was a little slower, and to Guest and LittleRedHead1231 for the reviews :)**

 **Writing Ino is writing Inner Sakura on crack. So much fun. I hope I managed to capture Shikamaru well enough, even if the interaction with Hidan wasn't** **phenomenal.**

 **Question: What would you guys do in Ino's shoes, regarding the situation at the hotel or with the zombie (or both)?**

 **Love,**

 **Renzin xo**


	4. Running Away

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, only this storyline, my OCs and my artwork.**

 _ **Summary: The Akatsuki planned to change the world. They planned to induce such catastrophic** **destruction onto the world that it would never be able to stomach violence again, and thus peace world reign. Their plan was to take place at a later date, however now the world faces an apocalyptic fate - and for once, it's not their fault.**_

 _ **Sakura, Ino and Hinata are fighting for their lives. They're scared and alone in a new world where walking out the front door is as much of a death sentence as locking yourself in. The government is nonexistent, families are torn apart and lives can be lost over the last can of food. But amidst the brain dead cannibals, rotting morals and chaos, the dawn is coming - and it's dressed in leather.**_

Chapter 4

 **Sakura**

Sakura's skin was still pink and steaming from the most relaxing bath she had experienced in recent memory. While the night shift she usual took was gruelling, it was worth taking the most undesired shift willingly, especially if it meant Shizune would be happy to let her have a rare day off. She was making the most of it; her nails were painted green, her hair braided into pig tails that hung to her shoulders, and she was looking forward to when Ino got home for their movie night. Hinata had lectures in the morning but was now home as well, peacefully reading on the sofa.

Sakura was waiting for the kettle to finish boiling for her tea. The grey steam curled around the kitchen, reminding her of a sharp pair of eyes from almost two weeks ago. It was silly, she knew, to still be thinking of the trio of bikers. Especially the one whose name she never caught (Sakura really wish she had).

The kettle had just started to whistle when the front door was slammed open. Ino threw herself inside and closed the door in the same manner. She was breathing heavily, with wide eyes and shaking shoulders. "Oh thank fuck, you're both here! Go pack quickly, we need to leave!" She commanded, kicking her heels off.

Hinata and Sakura gaped. Ino had _never_ treated her Jimmy Choos so carelessly before.

"Ino! What happened to you? What's going-" Hinata started, but was quickly cut off with a yelp as Ino pulled her to her feet and pushed Hinata towards the staircase.

"I'll explain as soon as you start packing. Bring those antique swords your dad gave you Hinata."

 **Ok, our best friend is having some sort of psychotic fit. You think she's pissed off the mafia?**

Sakura grabbed onto Ino. "Tell us why you want us to. You're not in trouble, are you? We should call the police."

Ino laughed manically, panic welling in her eyes. "Believe me, the police are going to be no help to us, 'cause everybody is going to be in just as much shit as we'll soon be." She tugged herself out of Sakura's grip and ran up the stairs.

The other two girls followed Ino to find her pulling out her old school bag and suitcase from under her bed, throwing stacks of clothes in by the handful. Bizarrely, she was packing trousers and thick jumpers, ignoring her designer collection that would have been her first choice in a fire. She started speaking as she flitted around the room. "So I was driving home right? And you know how they're all these huge ass trees? Well this guy randomly jumps in front of me and I hit him."

Hinata gasped and threw her hands to her mouth. "You _killed_ someone?!"

"Let me finish!" Ino hissed as she tugged off her dress and fought to get on a pair of jeans she only ever wore for DIY around the house. "I didn't kill anyone, cause the dude was already dead. 'Fucking decapitated at the waist. But get this; as soon as I go over, he started clawing at the ground and _moaning_ like a sex addict."

"Oh god." Sakura murmured. "Sometimes it takes a while to bleed out, and if the brain is still intact..."

"No, just shut up both of you!" Ino screeched. "He was fucking dead, and _I_ didn't kill him! He had bits of skin rotting off of him, and his clothes looked weeks old."

"W-what are you-"

"Hinata, it's the fucking rise of the undead, and I don't feel like sticking around for it, so get packed!"

 **Does this mean we can shoot people and not get arrested?**

Sakura's mouth became dry. It may seem stupid to others, but she believes Ino, and considering that Hinata's run off to grab her stuff, so does she. Maybe Ino's wrong, and this is all a false alarm, but Sakura is certain that this isn't some stupid prank, because she can see how terrified her friend is.

She rushed to her own room, her fear pumping adrenaline into her movements as if she had been with Ino when this all happened. Was this related to the weird virus that her colleges have been fighting? At the very least, Sakura didn't think that she was infected; she had never been in touching distant of these patients (hopefully it wasn't an air borne disease). She followed Ino's example and pulled out her red suitcase, proceeding to stuff it with clothes; she raided her supply of pads, her toiletries and bumped into Hinata in the bathroom doing the same.

"Don't open the door until we have everything downstairs, and make sure you wrap up warm." Sakura reminded her.

She can't help but be sentimental, because it feels like she's not facing the apocalypse. Her favourite books are added, as well as her diary, camera, laptop, and a photo album (and even some makeup). She zips the case shut, then dresses in a pair of leggings, her trainers, a thick black jumper with a hood and her winter coat with a knitted scarf. Her old school bag is stuffed with her phone, spare underwear, a small umbrella, her swiss army knife and other miscellaneous items.

Sakura hauls her two bags down and drops them by the front door next to Ino's stuff. The latter is emptying everything from the cupboards in the kitchen into bin bags, apart from the knives and forks that are in clear plastic bags. Hinata soon joins them, and without a word joins in. Sakura notices she's shaking, but it would be stupid to point that out.

"We'll take the Jeep." Ino declares. Another surprise, considering how expensive her Maserati was; but then again she's in survival mode, and that means sacrifice.

Sakura grabs both keys anyway, and hauls on her back pack before sharing a look with her friends. Hesitantly, she opens the front door.

Outside, the world is dark and silent. peaceful, just like any other night. This doesn't stop the girls from dashing to the Grand Cherokee ZJ jeep. Ino and Hinata watch each other's backs as they haul the suitcases into the boot, while Sakura leaves all their backpacks and the food bags in the backseats. She guns the engine and is relieved when Hinata and Ino finally close the boot and get in themselves. Sakura pulls out of their driveway and moves away. She watches her beloved home sink into the dark.

"Where to?"

"Just as far away from the city as possible." Ino replies.


	5. Moaning Gas Stations

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, only this storyline, my OCs and my artwork.**

 _ **Summary: The Akatsuki planned to change the world. They planned to induce such catastrophic** **destruction onto the world that it would never be able to stomach violence again, and thus peace world reign. Their plan was to take place at a later date, however now the world faces an apocalyptic fate - and for once, it's not their fault.**_

 _ **Sakura, Ino and Hinata are fighting for their lives. They're scared and alone in a new world where walking out the front door is as much of a death sentence as locking yourself in. The government is nonexistent, families are torn apart and lives can be lost over the last can of food. But amidst the brain dead cannibals, rotting morals and chaos, the dawn is coming - and it's dressed in leather.**_

Chapter 5

 **Hinata**

They drive cluelessly for a few moments, until she points out that maybe they should look at a map and plan where to go. Sakura pauses for a moment, then replies, "That...would be a good idea." and hands Hinata the road map that they keep in the glove compartment. Sakura wants to head into a state that's less populated, but Ino disagrees.

"We should go to a port and sail the fuck out of here!"

Hinata is aghast. "You want to _steal!?"_

"Give it a few days and no officer's going to care about theft." Ino counters in her usual snarky manner.

The three of them decide to drive in the direction of the coast. Sakura eventually concedes that it'll be first come first serve with the boats, and every other person will want to run to the countryside otherwise. They continue on hoping that sailing isn't as hard as it seems.

Hinata didn't think that Ino was lying, but after 5 hours driving, she was sceptical. No diseased monsters jumped out at them, and there was barely any traffic. At around 1am, they pulled into a lonely gas station much to Ino's distaste. Hinata offered to drive next, not feeling up to experiencing a panicking Ino behind the wheel. She's glad that she doesn't have to go into the as station as well; the idea of seeing a place so similar to where she works (worked?) at trashed or infested with the undead is not a pleasant one. Sakura and Ino left her in the car, and returned with a cart of dried foods much to Hinata's surprise.

Sakura explained with a worried look in her eyes. "Nobody was at the till. I even checked the office behind the counter, and there was this odd banging from the toilets."

"W-was it one of t-them?" Hinata asked, fearful of the answer.

"...We didn't want to open it and find out."

"At least we got more stuff!" Ino said smugly, like she'd just found an awesome purse in the further reductions sale. The other two don't have to energy to chastise her over what's technically stealing, but Hinata still wears disapproving look that's ignored. She's tired, scared and frustrated, because she's not even sure what she's scared of. The only person who does is Ino, who now seems to be over her initial panic when she first came home.

 _'Home' might not be something we have anymore._

The thought makes Hinata wants to cry. Is her family ok? She doesn't want to call to ask them about the virus if none of this is real, because then Neji will come to take her back to Japan. What about her master's degree? She worked _so_ hard for it; one day Hinata wanted to prove that she could run the family businesses.

They were all uncertainties. What Hinata _was_ sure of, was the warm leather of the wheel under her white grip, so she focused herself on that and the road ahead.

* * *

By late morning, they were even more paranoid. At first the small neighbouring towns were as they should be, with a calm hum of life. Then they saw a car parked at an odd angle on the side of the road, with the driver's door open and no people in sight. Hinata wanted to stop, but Ino shot the idea immediately down even as Sakura fought with her medical morals.

Hinata couldn't deny that there was something undeniably wrong when they pulled into a small grid of houses and shops that could be walked around in five minutes. It barely constituted as a village, and yet the most noticeable sounds were of the wind whistling through the man made was an odd dryness in the air that she had never smelt before, and the first house they passed had a missing front door. She pulled the car to a stop on the side walk in front of a red diner that was most likely the favourite food joint for locals.

Ino passed them a kitchen knife each from the plastic bags she had brought from home. "Hinata, stay in the car. We'll be 10 minutes at most."

"What are we looking for?" Sakura asked with trepidation.

"Anything useful. Evidence that I'm not hallucinating this all up, because I am _so_ late for work right now."

Hinata can't help the anxiety that balls up when she too realises that she's missing her lectures, and she doesn't even know if she'll ever have one again. "Please, be careful."

Her friends smile at her. "Call us if you see anything." Ino tells her, and then she leaves with Sakura.


	6. Carnivorous Customers

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, only this storyline, my OCs and my artwork.**

 _ **Summary: The Akatsuki planned to change the world. They planned to induce such catastrophic** **destruction onto the world that it would never be able to stomach violence again, and thus peace world reign. Their plan was to take place at a later date, however now the world faces an apocalyptic fate - and for once, it's not their fault.**_

 _ **Sakura, Ino and Hinata are fighting for their lives. They're scared and alone in a new world where walking out the front door is as much of a death sentence as locking yourself in. The government is nonexistent, families are torn apart and lives can be lost over the last can of food. But amidst the brain dead cannibals, rotting morals and chaos, the dawn is coming - and it's dressed in leather.**_

Chapter 6

 **Ino**

The first thing Ino notices is the smell.

They don't need to work out how to get into the diner without alerting any nearby fucktards with the stupid bell on the door, because it's already propped open by the handle of a fallen broom. Instantly, Ino's mind buzzes with the reasons why. The part of her that loves watching conspiracy programs weighs the possibility that someone left the door open to lead some walking corpses in there on purpose.

When Sakura pushes the door open completely, she wrinkles her nose at the smell of something decomposing. Ino doesn't spend her working hours around dead/dying patients, so is far more vocal with her response. "Son of a _whore_ _!_ Who fucking died and got pissed on?!"

Sakura rolls her eyes. She gave up telling Ino off for her mouth years ago. Instead she mutters, "That's what we're going to find out."

The two of them pass the threshold and slowly make their way across the sticky checkered floor. Food is left rotting on the counter. The cash register has been cleared and hangs open. Ino quickly realises why the floor is so greasy when she looks behind the counter. One of the taps of soda at the bar hadn't been closed properly, and the large puddle it's formed has spread like treacle. She glares at it hatefully. She may be wearing her trainers, but they're $500 thank you very much.

Ino moves to Sakura's side as she looks into each booth. The pink haired girl hesitates at the last one and shares a look with Ino; what was once on the table has been knocked off onto the floor and seats, and there are smears of something a shade of dirty red that trails onto the floor and disappears on the other side of a pair of swinging doors.

"It could be...brown sauce?" Sakura asks. Ino snorts, but decides to refrain from turning that into an innuendo. It wouldn't do her justice.

Ino takes the lead and paces towards the double doors. She bends her legs slightly, ready to bolt as she peers through one of the portholes. Instinct forces her to throw herself backwards immediately when she does. Thankfully, she'd covered her mouth with her hand to muffle her shock.

"What is it?!" Sakura hisses. Both of them move back to the doors to take another look. Sakura whimpers when she sees proof what Ino has been telling them.

On the other side of the doors, there is a corridor. An open archway leads to what must be the kitchen, and perpendicular to that is a set of narrow stairs that leads to the next floor. However the way up these stairs is blocked by two hunched figures tugging and tearing at a third unmoving one.

The two mobile ones are exactly like the one she crashed into, despite the differing shapes and clothes. One is wearing a waitress uniform; its hair had been torn off on one side, and there is a thick clump of flesh missing from one shoulder. The other is a wiry male in a kitchen uniform. Both are bobbing up and down, resurfacing to show the chewing motions of their jaws. From the way the third figure lies on the stairs, Ino guesses that they must have tripped running and fallen back into the grasp of the monsters that are now eating them. Her mind shudders, not certain that this isn't a hallucination. People don't _eat_ other people. Not in South Carolina.

And that's when Ino consciously decides that whatever those things are, they are not the humans they once were. What bitching luck, it looked like they were in the middle of a zombie outbreak.

"Sakura." She murmurs under her breath. "We need to go back to the car. _Now."_

Ino uses her grip on Sakura to pull her back from the door and steer her out of the diner. But Sakura doesn't making it any fucking easier because she just stares with wide glassy eyes at the doors to the zombies. Ino starts to breath heavily, disturbed herself about what they had just seen.

 _Clang!_

They both freeze, the air stuck in their throats. Almost comically, in unison they look down to the ground to watch a cup idly roll in circles. Neither are sure who kicked it. But without discussion, when they hear the moans behind the door grow louder and shuffling feet, the girl make for the exit. Ino bangs her hip against the counter in her haste, but doesn't break her stride. When Hinata catches sight of them running towards her, and look of fear comes over her face. She flinches as Ino and Sakura slam their car doors closed.

"Drive!" Sakura yells, but Ino is quick to stop Hinata from doing so. "No! Sakura, she needs to see _!"_

"Are you _crazy!?"_

Ino tries to explain as quickly as possible. "They won't be able to get us through here. Hinata? Babe, we need you to wait for a few seconds, but once you've seen them we can go."

"S-seen what?"

Her own eyes answer her question. She screams at what she sees staggering out of the dinner. The undead waitress falls over the broom, and becomes preoccupied with trying to stand back on its own two feet, but the male one makes its way towards them with heavy, shuddering steps. Hinata can't tear her eyes away from those blank milky orbs. Her scream changes from one sustained note to several short bursts like an alarm as she starts to hyperventilate, and the noise seems to pull the zombie closer towards them. In the daylight, the horror is explicit; rotting skin is peeling on top of ash grey skin, and the front of it's covered with fresh blood from its recent meal.

Sakura starts shaking her shoulder. "Hinata! Turn on the engine!"

She doesn't respond. Her screams turn into muted wails as the crying starts. "I-it's n-not real-"

"Hinata!"

"I-it's not r-real, it's not-"

"HINATA FUCKING _GO!"_ Ino yells, punching the seat in front of her. She surprises Hinata into looking away, and the girl suddenly is functioning again, fumbling to turn the key. The jeep roars to life with scratchy lurch, but they don't move. Much to their frustration, Hinata's stuck staring at the horror that's almost upon them and is oblivious to Sakura and Ino's yelling. It's only when the zombie scrapes against the driver's window right in front of her face that Hinata reacts again. She gurgles a scream and stamps down on the gas. The three of them lurch forwards and escape the driveway of the diner.


	7. Warning Shots And Celebrity Advice

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, only this storyline, my OCs and my artwork.**

 _ **Summary: The Akatsuki planned to change the world. They planned to induce such catastrophic** **destruction onto the world that it would never be able to stomach violence again, and thus peace world reign. Their plan was to take place at a later date, however now the world faces an apocalyptic fate - and for once, it's not their fault.**_

 _ **Sakura, Ino and Hinata are fighting for their lives. They're scared and alone in a new world where walking out the front door is as much of a death sentence as locking yourself in. The government is nonexistent, families are torn apart and lives can be lost over the last can of food. But amidst the brain dead cannibals, rotting morals and chaos, the dawn is coming - and it's dressed in leather.**_

Chapter 7

 **Sakura**

She wanted to strangle both of them. Ino because it was her fault that Hinata was crying (now in the back seat with Sakura), and the latter because while she empathised that it was a horrifying experience for everyone, her ears were ringing, and this headache wouldn't leave without a fight. Sakura's shoulder was damp because of her friend's wet face burrowing into it, and it had been hours since the diner, near the evening in fact.

Apart from the two zombified staff, nothing interesting had occurred. They passed an unusual amount of roadkill in certain areas, and a man cursing into the hood of his smoking car. Sakura had wanted to stop and help, but Ino merely snorted at the suggestion and swerved around the immobile vehicle and its driver. Hinata shifted a little at the sudden movement, then twisted around to lie her head in Sakura's lap and fall asleep.

They try calling the police.

As Ino predicted, they're put on hold without even being allowed to explain anything, and after 30 minutes Sakura gets fed up and turns off her phone, muttering that she was sure there was some sort of law against the fire department, ambulance and police service putting you on hold. Then Ino starts messing around with the radio, but all the local stations (even the ones that play club music 24/7) are airing extended news reports or have the presenters talking about a sweeping increase in crime that was being linked to some unknown disease. Ino calls them out as idiots and decides to put in a CD of classical music in the hopes of giving Hinata a more peaceful sleep.

Sakura drifts off herself, then wakes up a little later when she feels Hinata stirring in her lap. She hands out sandwiches from when they cleared out their house, and is thankful that a full stomach seems to calm everyone down. Hinata even tugs out her sketch pad to occupy herself, since she clearly isn't in the mood to chat.

Ino eventually complains about her butt being asleep and her eyes hurting, and by this time night's starting to catch up with them so they decide to stop somewhere; except after another 30 minutes of driving they can't even find anywhere safe to park, let alone spend the night. Everywhere they drive is surrounded by dwindling forest boarders, dark enough to hide any nighttime monsters. After some debate, they stop on the side of the road and Sakura swaps with Ino, resolving to drive till Hinata's up for it (Sakura makes herself comfortable behind the wheel).

They continue this routine till it's their forth day on the road. None of them leave the jeep alone, and always with a kitchen knife in hand. The fact that Sakura feels like an overreacting character from Desperate Housewife is quelled by her fear. They reach their first stretch of road with more than 5 visible cars, however it's not as comforting as it seems because they're all abandoned as far as the road can be seen. To move forward would mean getting out and pushing cars one by one. All three girls vehemently dislike that notion, nor do they like the idea of staying on this road any longer. With much grumbling on Ino's part, they do a turn in the road and head back to choose an alternative junction.

The next time they stop at a gas station, they meet some _live_ people, and relief fills them instantaneously.

Until they get freaking _shot at._

Sakura and Ino aren't even 10 metres from the automatic doors where they had seen somebody walk through a few moments before, when the ground crackles like thunder, far too close to their feet. They both jump and scramble backwards, until a voice from above catches their attention. They look up to find a scowling man on the flat roof on the station, skin baked red and a smoking _rifle_ in his hands. "Oi! Fuck offa here _now,_ or I'll shoot again!"

 **Are you kidding me?! He just tried to kill us!** Inner Sakura curses at the same time Ino screeches back, "What the fuck!? You can't tell us what to do!"

The man's scowl deepens. "I ain't messin' around. If you're not movin' in the next three seconds, it's your _head_ next."

Sakura tugs Ino behind her and raises her voice as well. "We only need a place to stop for the night. Please, just-"

"ONE!" The man lifts his gun back up. Sakura and Ino exchange an indecisive glance, not quite believing that this is happening.

"TWO!" At that, they both give in and sprint back to the car, meeting a terrified Hinata half way as she runs to meet them. Sakura grabs her arm and pulls her the other way, and thanks to Ino's driving, they've pulled out of the station's car park within a minute.

"What in the everlasting hell was that?!" Ino snarls, the wheel's rubber cover squealing under her grip. "That trigger happy asshole could've killed us!"

Hinata tightens her grip on the blanket that's covering everything but her head while Sakura hugs her. The pink haired girl is leaning on her patience as a junior doctor to not shake Hinata until she stops crying, because to be quite honest she feels like she could really use some babying herself right now. Inner is filling her role of expressing her more volatile feelings all to well, and is cursing up a storm inside her. Ino's doing almost the exact same thing at the wheel, and Sakura's worried they're going to start syncing if this continues.

"It must have already gotten bad." She murmurs. Hinata whimpers, and Sakura forces herself to hug her tighter rather than slap her.

"Well no shit. Epidemics do that." Ino hisses and rubs her eyes with her knuckles, avoid her long manicure (that was showing signs of her suffering). "Is it epidemic or pandemic?"

"Pandemic's worldwide. Not sure if...well, the radio said reports were coming from all over, so I guess its pandemic." Sakura takes a deep breath. She feels like she's going to break. They haven't even had it that bad, if all those monster movies are to be believed. But just the idea that they're going to be running from death like this everyday is harrowing. It makes her want to crumble from the inside. She doesn't even know what's happened to her parents. None of them have been able to reach their relatives, let alone any friends. Sakura's even taken to sending an email to everyone she cares about, urging them reply, but no dice.

The internet is exploding with footage, and even though anything graphic is being taken down just as quickly, Sakura manages to see enough. Forums are being started everywhere, and every sort of person joins in. Of course there are the conspiracy theories, the jackasses who think it's a worldwide prank and those that are just laughing it off; there are the nerds who have been waiting to sharpen their props since they first watched The Walking Dead, the fanatics, the desperate, the religious, the lonely, and thousands of stories of personal encounters. Zombie survival blogs are most definitely in. But then there are also terrifying pleas for help. Facebook messages for anybody to help get them to safety. Statuses of goodbyes, of rage and terror and every other nasty emotion there is. Hinata may still be lying next to her in a daze, but she's pretty certain Ino knows as well because of the constant pinging her phone kept making for some news app. Sakura savours the wonders of technology connecting them all together, for however long it may last.

 **Enough of this pity party. We need a proper plan, no more of this cruising ranger crap!**

Sakura knows Inner is right. She's never liked running around with a patchy plan, and being shot at has truly blown this one up. People are already starting to panic, and she doubts they're the only ones to have decide to pack up and become nomads. If Ino is right, then the cities are going to be the hotspots of undead activity, so yeah, not a great idea to go back. But their entire plan of leaving the city was to stock up with gas stations and head to the coast. From the looks of things, the locals had already been hit or staked their claims on shelter. The harbours are likely just as packed, considering that they tend to be built in towns and cities (funny that). Sakura bets that any convenience, hiking and gun stores have probably been cleared out and fought over already, and here they are driving around with a couple of kitchen knives, a bat and ceremonial sword.

...Actually, put like that, they weren't too bad off. They just needed a clear plan to ground themselves (and to stop Sakura from losing it). Their chances of finding a boat that they can _somehow_ work out how to drive are so slim they're more of a joke than her attempts at climbing rope in gym.

She winced at an old zombie movie scene running through her head. A city block overrun by the undead, people screaming, helplessly being chased and eaten. Seeing the fake gore had barely made Sakura blink; after all, she had done her fair share of shift in A&E, but the idea of all of that being a reality was too much.

Sakura couldn't imagine the pain and terror that a victim would feel, being ripped apart and eaten. And here she was, a trained doctor driving away from those in need. What made her feel even sicker was that if given the choice, she would be where she was now, saving her own skin. What could she do anyway? Even if the freaking president fell in her lap with a chewed off leg, what did she know about curing zombie infections?

She doesn't realise she had fallen asleep until Ino's impatiently shaking her shoulder. "Hurry up and change with me." The blonde glares and Sakura suddenly realises that it's the second time in last 24 hours that Ino has driven, and a sleep deprived Ino is almost as scary as an Ino on crack. Before she can unbuckle her seatbelt however, Hinata raises her head like a sleepy woodland creature and says "I'll drive."

Ino and Sakura pause, exchanging a look. Then Ino shrugs. "If you're up for it. I need to use a tree or something first." Sakura crinkles her nose at that, but then realises that so does she, and then Hinata needs the bathroom as well. They get out of the car, retrieve some toilet paper from the boot and watch each others backs (somewhat awkwardly) while they relieve themselves. Sakura distributes generous amounts of hand sanitiser, then joins Hinata in the front after a look from Ino. Sure, its great that Hinata's finally online again, but its best to have two pairs of eyes on the road right now.

It only takes a few minutes for Hinata's eyes to regain their usual subtle sharpness, though there's a despairing backdrop to them as well. Soon she pipes up, her voice raspy and quiet. "Could you put some music on?"

Sakura blinks in surprise, then nods. "I think we stopped the disc at the Chopin before."

"N-not that." Hinata instantly says, then shrugs apologetically. "I don't want to fall asleep again."

Sakura hums in thought. "Well I don't think they'll be anything different on the radio, but might as well try." She starts to fiddle with the device, keeping the volume quiet enough so as not to disturb Ino. As predicted, all the stations are filled repetitive emergency announcements on repeat, but most are just empty static. Sakura feels her stomach drop as she continues, until they actually find a live one. She's so surprised she accidentally flips past before realising what she just heard.

Out of all the frequencies they can reach, only one has a live voice speaking to them. Hinata gasps, her eyes wide in recognition. "Is that Kanye West?"

Sakura snorts, then a moment later her brain stutters. But really, who the hell could predict that of all people, controversial rapper and all around filterless _Kanye West_ is the last person they may hear on the radio. "You have _got_ to be kidding me." Because it's not just one of his songs, oh no. The man has somehow managed to convince the radio show to let him deliver his very own apocalyptic rant.

"Wake up Ino!" Sakura complies, avoiding going too near the blonde's teeth for fear of being snapped at. She rapidly nudges her knees, shaking until Ino is snarling at her. "What in the thousand fucking steps to hell is- wait, is that Kanye West?" Her face drops in bewildered confusion, because this really has to be the strangest thing. The three of them lean in to listen to the man's slightly nasal voice.

"...So my third point is to remember to watch your backs, ok? Like that movie, what was it...oh right Zombieland, you know with all the rules? I know its kinda tough to find a TV right now 'cause of the whole rioting an' shit, but everyone try and watch Jesse Eisenberg explain the rules of surviving. I mean, Kim an' I are using it like a step by step thing, so if you have any doubts, just follow that, 'cause they raise some really good points. Also, Bill Murray is a cool dude, so like, he can probably help you out and stuff, but seriously, don't kill him, 'cause, that ain't cool."

"Pfffffffftttt." Ino can't hold it in any longer. She huffs and cackles like an accordion, and it doesn't take long for Hinata and Sakura to join in.

It's the sort of laughter that actually becomes painful, where you're hold your sides, and look like you're choking. But it's the best kind, because this laughter's the type where Ino cackles and snorts like a pig, where Sakura starts actually crying with laughter and Hinata hiccups like a drunk chipmunk.

It's incredibly lucky that the roads are empty, because it takes the last of Hinata's control to brake and lurch to a stop without even pulling over. And as Kanye keeps droning on in his own special and idiotic way, Sakura can't even feel depressed that this may be the last proper radio broadcast she'll ever listen to, because at times like this, she remembers that the effort it takes to move forwards is worth it, even if the future is full of hungry zombies and never ending road trips.


	8. An Altruistic Morning

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, only this storyline, my OCs and my artwork.**

 _ **Summary: The Akatsuki planned to change the world. They planned to induce such catastrophic** **destruction onto the world that it would never be able to stomach violence again, and thus peace would reign. Their plan was to take place at a later date, however now the world faces another apocalyptic fate - and for once, it's not their fault.**_

 _ **Sakura, Ino and Hinata are fighting for their lives. They're scared and alone in a new world where walking out the front door is as much of a death sentence as locking yourself in. The government is nonexistent, families are torn apart and lives can be lost over the last can of food. But amidst the brain dead cannibals, rotting morals and chaos, the dawn is coming - and it's dressed in leather.**_

Chapter 8

 **Hinata**

Its dark now.

Midnight has come and gone, and the sky is only just starting to melt into the new day. Ino's drooling in the back, but that doesn't bother Hinata too much because at least it means she's having a deep sleep. Sakura's eating the other half of the sandwich they had been sharing. Her eyes gaze sleepily ahead as she chews slowly.

Rainy days may be Hinata's favourite type of day, but the early morning is her favourite time. Its that stretched out moment before the birds are awake, when the dew hasn't yet settled and the sky is hesitantly fading to the new day. At home, Hinata had liked to leave her curtains open, so that she could see the sky morph; when she did get out of bed, it was pure bliss to sit on the bench on their porch with some tea or porridge and feel the chilly breeze kiss her face while the rest of her was wrapped up.

She rarely shared this time with her friends. Sakura had such a bizarre schedule as a junior doctor, the only things she did at home were watch Netflix, study and sleep; while Ino had perfected her routine of waking up only enough to turn her alarm to snooze every morning (the long commute to work was made up by her crazy NASCAR driving skills). Despite their situation, Hinata takes comfort in her favourite time of the day, and that no matter how many flesh eating corpses there were (she winces), the morning will always be waiting for her.

The adrenaline of escape is fading into the usual boredom of a road trip. Sure, the disturbing state of the empty road is a reminder of their situation, but Hinata feels restless. They all do.

But then suddenly they're in civilisation again.

On their fifth day, they could have crossed several states by now, but the blocked off roads were now frequent and all three of them were rather terrible with maps. More than likely they had probably been skirting around the edge of South Carolina all this time, but at the very least they stayed away from Columbia. Hinata finally realises they're far closer to the coast than before when she passes a sign for Conway. She's hesitant to go so close to another city, but at least she knows that she's nearing Myrtle Beach, and so makes to edge around Conway but stay in the same general direction.

Several hours later, Sakura's asleep as well. They had passed a group of zombies circling a few abandoned cars, but neither had spoken about it. Thankfully, Hinata had managed to sharply weave around them without a second glance, ignoring the moans that she heard as they passed. At the very least, they hadn't been after anybody _alive._

Despite what the others may think, Hinata wasn't on the verge of a breakdown. Ok, maybe she was scared out of her mind, but crying and sleeping were just her way of dealing with it. She's not a delicate fool. Hinata knows that the world's just got a whole lot tougher, and there's a high chance that she'll never see her family again. She'll never go to work or to class. She'll never do a thousand things she took for granted before.

She could die today.

Her mind tries to wander to old memories of Japan. Her father, stoic but caring. Neji, always protecting her. Hanabi, too young for this, but then again, so was she, and everybody else. Hinata couldn't think of one person who could possibly deserve the fate they were all facing.

Then a man she had quite forgotten about enters her thoughts, and the intensity of their encounter makes her flush. Hellish eyes. Tall and scowling. Marlboro Reds and a magazine, payed with a coupon. The biker from her shift was likely on the move as well. He seemed to be in some type of gang, but maybe that was her imagination running wild. Weren't biker gangs always on the move? At the very least, her customer seemed like the type of man to survive the end of the world. Hinata could imagine him staring down zombies like they were bugs under his feet. A smile tugged at her mouth. At the very least, she knew someone would be okay.

She felt giddy thinking of him. Was it strange that she was imagining him pulling alongside their car, wind pulling at his bandana and long hair?

Then suddenly Hinata was driving past a dollar store, had to swivel around a fallen bicycle and ended up at the end of a street of creamy suburban houses. The area looked like the set of Desperate Housewives, if perhaps in a lower price range for the estate agents. Some cars still sat in their driveway, but most were empty. A post box was knocked down. One house had a broken door, while another had red handprints on the window and curtains on the inside. It was eerily quiet in the day light, without any movement that would usually be associated with an awakening neighbourhood.

Except for the moaning crowd of undead surging around one particular boarded up house.

Hinata's breath hitched as she came to a stop, and her lip began to quiver as she heard hysterical yelling from inside. She watched the undead raking bloody nails against the windows and from door of the house, leaving red trails against the white plaster. A dog began to bark frantically as well, as several zombies began to move their way around the side of the house. When one tripped over the lawn, Hinata snapped out of her trance. "Sakura, Sakura!"

The pinkette groaned and tilted her head up. _"_ What happe-crap! Ino, wake up!" Sakura grabbed Ino's ankle and shook it violently.

"What do we do?!" Hinata said, panic rearing its head.

"Oh for pete's sake!" Sakura leaned back far enough to deliver a slap to Ino's shoulder, the load crack loud in the car. The blonde bolted up with several curses, until she spotted the reason for stopping. She swallowed hard, then grimaced. "What is this, a fucking street party?"

Sakura unbuckled her seatbelt and stared ahead with determination. "We've got to help them. Pick up a weapon and we can-"

"-Go trade jabs with the hordes of hell? We need to get out of here!" Ino retorted.

"I can hear them _inside,_ Ino." Hinata snapped uncharacteristically. "We can't just leave them!"

"No, we actually can."

"The longer we sit here, the less time they have!" Sakura argued.

Ino grabbed her before she could shoot into action. "Stop being a fucktard and _think._ What are you going to do running at a bunch of zombies screaming your ass off?!"

"Well, do you have a better idea?!"

"Yeah, actually. Let's get the fuck outta here!"

"Oh have a freaking heart, Ino, these aren't a few stranded guys, they're minutes away from being _eaten."_

"It's not like they'd do the same for us!"

"You don't know tha- WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Sakura breaks off with a scream as Hinata accelerates. The car shoots forward, all three girls shrieking at the top of their lungs as they race down the street towards the house. Ino flings her arms around the driver's seat, trying to grapple Hinata away from the steering wheel while Sakura hangs on for dear life. The jeep slams down the white fence and bounces over several walking corpses with loud cracks and squishing sounds, until Hinata breaks sharply in the middle of the lawn.

Ino looses her grip and falls face first onto the gear box. Hinata's heading makes a nasty impact again the wheel. Sakura begins screaming all over again once the shock of the impact fades and she realises where they are.

Hinata groans, now in possession of a pounding headache, but the adrenaline brings her thoughts back like sharp needles, and her grip tightens with purpose again. She starts the engine again, pushes Ino onto Sakura's lap and reverses back over the zombies she had cut down before, yelling her head off the entire time like a battle cry.

That's four down. There are a few along the side of the house, and are now retracing their steps to them. Another 6 are still standing, and she can see one in the next garden along limping towards them. Hinata loses sight of reason as she can't figure out whether she's fighting or flying. She pivots the car to face it towards the street, hopefully taking out more of the monsters, and then pulls back onto the road at an angle, driving several metres and harshly breaking again.

This time, Hinata braces herself and avoids hurting her head again, however Ino somehow ends up with her torso in between Sakura legs. The two girls pull her back up as she struggles with a very vocal rage, until she's sitting upright in Sakura's lap. "Hina-a whada fuck?!" Ino gasps, as she clutches her bleeding nose. "We culda died!"

"We were wasting time." The usually soft spoken girl snaps. "The people in there needed a distraction, and I gave them one."

Sakura hisses as she rubs her sore shoulder, though her anger is replace by the shock of Hinata's actions and brittle tone. "A warning would be nice next time. What do you suggest now?"

Hinata pauses, then swivels to look out the back window. As predicted, the zombies are now meandering in their direction. A few have already reached the bumper, and are scraping their nails along the metal exterior. All three girls flinch as the moans grow more excited.

 _"Dwive!"_ Ino whimpers, pressing away from the windows as more zombies start to press their rotting faces on them. They're leaving smudges of blood and whatever else on the glass. One has no jaw, and is dragging its tongue up and down. Sakura begins to sob loudly. It feels like they're trapping in a despairing cave. The hellish figures are the closest they've ever been to the girls, and they can see them in all their nightmarish glory. They block out the light, and seem to be looming above them. Most have dirty white eyes with broken pupils, but a few still have traces of their original colour. Each one sports a unique skin shade of bluish greys, browns and yellows, all of which are peeling. On Hinata's side of the car, one woman's face has collapsed on itself. She can see the dull sheen of bone underneath a torn away ear, and she can barely look away.

Somehow, she does. She manages with strength she didn't know she had to focus and roll the car backwards, so that the zombies at their tail are abruptly brought to the ground and crushed. She moves the car back and forth like a mechanical see saw, a deathly numbness in her allowing her to think properly again while Sakura and Ino are lost in their nightmares. Hinata performs a turn in the road as if she was leisurely changing direction, sideswiping a few more on the sides of the jeep, and then drives back to the house and parks perfectly in front of it on the pavement.

The three of them are silently shaking for a moment. Slowly, Hinata uncurls her fingers. She looks at Ino and Sakura, both pale and gaunt. Sakura's face is wet with tears, while Ino's wet with her own blood. Guilt arises in Hinata. They wouldn't be in this state if it wasn't for her sudden recklessness. But then she can suddenly hear the yelling of a man and she snaps her head up to see a face grinning wildly from one of the second story windows. He's looking at them as if they were long lost friends, while Hinata just blankly stares back. He shouts something that she can't make out, and then is out of sight.

Ino is the first to come out of shock, and moans in pain. "'Ma _nose._ Fuckfuckfuck-"

Sakura snorts, but it sounds hysterical. "Did that really just happen? Holy shit, Hinata!" She looks at her with wide eyes.

"I don't know why I did that. I'm _so sorry,_ I just-I couldn't-" She gasps and leans her head against the wheel. She feels a hand rest against her back and rub shaking circles in.

"It's ok." Sakura murmurs, seemingly trying to calm herself and Ino down as well. "Ino, let me look at that."

"No!"

Despite herself, Hinata rasps a giggle at the obvious pout in Ino's voice.

Sakura tuts with impatience. "If it's broken and we leave it, it'll heal crooked."

Immediately Ino shoots up in horror, then winces and groans at the movement. She whines and grabs onto Sakura's jumper with garbled pleas to save her beauty while the latter rolls her eyes and gently examines the damage. She pauses, then says "You're lucky, the blood's from a cut on the surface. Your actual nose is just swelling a lot."

Before Ino can answer, there's a knock on their window. They all scream in shock, loud enough to cause the figure to throw his hands over his ears. "Woah, it's ok, I'm not a biter!"

Hinata gapes for a moment, then shakes her head and presses the button to roll the window down slightly. She opens her mouth to talk, but sees movement over his shoulder. "Behind you!"

He whips around to see the last three zombies desperately stumbling towards him. Without hesitation, he grabs the door of the back seat open and hurls himself in. But instead of closing the door immediately, he waits long enough to allow an abnormally large ball of fur to crawl in as well. "We're in!"

Hinata jumps into action, and soon they're speeding down the street and away from the destroyed lawn of the house.

It only takes a few seconds for Sakura to clear her throat. "You alright back there?"

The man brings his head forward from where he was leaning it against the head rest, breathing heavily. "Yeah, I'm great. I mean, not really, but holy _shit_ that was cool. Thank you, thank you so much. I thought-" He swallows to regain control of his emotions. "I thought that was the end of us. I owe you guys, big time."

Their new companion is not a man at all, probably not even in college. A boy really, maybe 17 or 18. He's sweaty, dressed in a coat with a thick fur collar and a black t shirt with the symbol for the Stark house from Game of Thrones. His nails are dirty, his hair brown and shaggy but shorter on the sides. Odd burgundy triangles are tattooed down his cheekbones in a tribal fashion.

The dog next to him is far more impressive, and is most certainly the largest one Hinata has ever seen. It seems the calmest out of all of them, too large to properly sit in the seat without its legs touching the floor. It surveys them with beady eyes, sniffing in their direction.

Sakura forces a smile. "Don't worry about it." Ino derisively snorts, but the former continues like she hadn't heard. "I'm Sakura. This is Hinata, and the bleeding idiot here is Ino."

"Dis isn't ma fuckin' fult!" Ino scowled eloquently, glaring at the boy when he chuckled.

"I'm Kiba, and this is my buddy Akamaru!" He gave the dog a hearty scratch behind the ears, to which Akamaru responded with a happy rumble.

Hinata smiles weakly, then gets back to concentrating on getting them far away from the dying town.


	9. Prioritising Lives

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, only this storyline, my OCs and my artwork.**

 ** _Summary: The Akatsuki planned to change the world. They planned to induce such catastrophic destruction onto the world that it would never be able to stomach violence again, and thus peace world reign. Their plan was to take place at a later date, however now the world faces an apocalyptic fate - and for once, it's not their fault._**

 ** _Sakura, Ino and Hinata are fighting for their lives. They're scared and alone in a new world where walking out the front door is as much of a death sentence as locking yourself in. The government is nonexistent, families are torn apart and lives can be lost over the last can of food. But amidst the brain dead cannibals, rotting morals and chaos, the dawn is coming - and it's dressed in leather._**

 **Zombie AU, modern AU. Rating T - M. A bit of horror, touch of drama and a dash of devilish romance.**

Chapter 9

 **Ino**

It doesn't take long for Ino to try to ditch their tag along. All it takes is several hours of shock to wear off, accompanied by the kid's incessant talking and the strong smell of adolescent sweat and dog. Somehow, _she's_ the one who winds up in the back seat with them, constantly having to fight for breaths of clean air. She leans against the half open window like a mouse finding a crack in the floor, forlornly watching the landscape whip by. A couple of bags of their belongings separate the two newcomers from her, but even then Ino can't decide whether dog or boy whines more.

Hinata is sitting directly in front of Ino, blankly staring ahead but as long as she isn't crying Ino can file her away as stable for now. Sakura's at the wheel again, humouring the new kid in the same voice she uses when she's half an hour away from the end of her shift and all she wants is to eat and sleep. Ino doesn't bother to save her, she can barely stand their hitch hikers as it is.

Ino doesn't like them. The kid has stupid tattoos and won't shut up. The dog is freaking her out with its size and keeps hitting her with his tail. They're taking up room and they're _ruined_ the best friend dynamic the girls had going.

Oh and her nose still her wads of tissue stuck in it and _really FUCKING HURTS!_

There's also the fact that no one seems to want to look at her right now. _Well what do they expect?_ Ino snarls to herself. Both Hinata and Sakura are real bleeding hearts, but they need to know that they can't save every fucking person out there. She gives them a week before this happens again, except this time it'll be a trap, or something will go wrong and then they'll get-

Ino sucks in a breath and holds it, letting the bland taste of the outside air chill her mouth. She lets it out silently, letting her eyes fall shut. Is she the only one really grasping the situation? At first she thought that once the others had seen those monsters, they would understand how dangerous the world was now. They'd had fucking _guns_ pointed at them. None of them were wondering about if their jobs were still there for them to be fired from for unexplained absences. Their house was probably worse off than the one they had saved the kid and his dog from, considering how much closer to the city it was. Ino can guess that the glass to her office is probably destroyed. Some idiots with the wrong priorities will have stolen her valuables. Her co workers could be barracaded into the building, or maybe lucky enough to have seen the signs like she had. Dozens of movie scenes play in her head, and eventually the faces of the actors morph into her own, Sakura's, Hinata's, Shikamaru's-

Oh shitshitshit-where the hell is Shikamaru and Choji? Ino wants to vomit. She curls her nails around the glass of the window and pushes her head into the wind. Her dad was a higher official for the government, with a military background, so there was no way Ino could imagine him getting caught out by this. But her best friends, her lover? Shikamaru would probably have been caught in the park, watching the clouds as aslways, and maybe Choji would join him if his shift of the resterant was still the same and then they would notice bloody corpses coming closer-

No. Shikamaru wouldn't let that happen. He could always tell that she was about to throw something even when she was _sure_ he was asleep. He was fast, and clever and there was no way in hell that Choji would be left behind. She could count on them to live, and there was no way in hell that she would die before seeing them again.

Ino takes another gasping breath and ducks back into the car, pressing the button of the window down until they're insulated by the hissing noise of the world whipping past them. Fucking _finally,_ the kid is asleep and his dog is happy to snuggle with him. Of course, their snoring hideously and both are competing for the size of their puddles of drool, but Ino is quickly learning that life isn't fucking fair anymore.

She sinks further into her seat and stares at the backs of the two girls in front of her. Her friends, roommates, the best girlfriends she could ask for. They were included in the list of her precious people, and there was no way in hell that either of them was going to die on her watch. She'd find her family, and the Naras and Akimichi. They'd be safe, and together and if there was no time limit to this apocalypse, well then they would damn well barricade the rest of the world out. Fuck them. All Ino cared about were her precious people.

But there was still the matter of the hostility towards her. Ino bites the inside of her cheek and narrows her eyes in thought. Hinata and Sakura wouldn't listen to her telling them that they couldn't trust anyone and save everyone. At the moment, they were probably thinking about how much of a bitch she was being, and _oh my god, how can she be sooooo heartless..._

Ino doesn't give a shit about the kid and his dog. But she can't get rid of him just like that. She can tell that Sakura likes him, and so does Hinata. He's a lot younger than them, and cute. Definitely no older than a highschooler. He's a relief to them, to see such a happy face in all the chaos, and if Ino knows them (which _duh,_ she does), they'll cling to him and baby him until it causes them to slip up and be killed. Ino can't let them do that to themselves, but they'd freeze her out of she kicked the kid out so quickly.

So she decides to wait. Maybe he himself is planning to say goodbye at the next service station. Maybe he'll get himself stupidly killed. But as far as Ino is concerned, the kid and his dog are going to be left behind as soon as she can separate them from her friends.

And as Ino starts to drift off as well, the words 'cannon fodder' make her smirk slightly as she closes her eyes.


End file.
